‘Duck Dynasty’ Pastor on What Phil Robertson Was Doing When He Was Suspended

The pastor of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson said he was dealing with something more important than the show when he was suspended by A&E: praying for a fellow member of his church who is fighting cancer.

“Phil led us in prayer,” Mike Kellett, senior pastor of White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La., told CNN. “There were greater things on our minds than the firestorm of controversy about this article.”

Robertson, 67, was suspended after grouping gays with “drunks” and “terrorists” in a GQ profile, and comparing homosexuality with bestiality. On Thursday, his family said in a statement they couldn’t imagine continuing the show without him. And on Friday, video emerged of Robertson speaking out against gays in a 2010 sermon.

Robertson is an elder at the nondenominational church, which gets about 1,200 worshipers on Sundays. Kellett said he offers spiritual counsel, teaches, hosts Bible studies and helps the poor.

Kellett said the church backs Robertson, and that he agrees with his comments about homosexuality.

“I think it’s unfortunate that when you quote the Bible people get upset about one particular sin that always seems to get a lot of attention,” Kellett said. “But sometimes the Bible is going to rub folks the wrong way.”